As businesses face into an increasingly complex legal environment, having the right legal talent in-house is critical. When building or expanding on its existing expertise, hiring companies need to understand what each position within an in-house legal team brings to the table – and, crucially, what to look for when recruiting top talent for these roles.
This short guide will explore some of the key roles within an in-house legal team and provide insights into what makes an effective hire for each.
General Counsel (GC)
Role Overview:
The General Counsel is normally the most senior legal executive in a company, responsible for overseeing all legal matters. They provide strategic leadership, advise the board and executive team and ensure the company operates within legal frameworks. The GC also acts as a liaison between the legal team and other departments, shaping policy and helping to manage business risks. (This role may sometimes also be referred to as the Chief Legal Officer which would tend to operate as part of the C-Suite; this is something the GC may also do and the titles are sometimes used interchangeably).
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide legal and strategic advice to the C-suite and board of directors.
- Oversee the company’s compliance programs and risk management (either alongside or taking on responsibility as the CCO)
- Manage the in-house legal team and external counsel relationships and budgets (sometimes in coordination with a Legal Operations Manager).
- Serve as a trusted business partner, balancing legal advice with business objectives.
What to look for:
- Extensive legal experience: Look for candidates with deep expertise across multiple legal domains, including corporate law, regulatory compliance, litigation, and governance.
- Strong leadership skills: A GC needs to lead the legal team and work closely with senior executives, requiring excellent communication, decision-making, and management abilities.
- Business acumen: Companies should seek a GC who understands the business landscape and can provide legal advice that aligns with the company’s goals.
- Crisis management: A GC often leads the company through legal crises, so experience in handling high-stakes legal issues is crucial.
2. Deputy General Counsel / Associate General Counsel
Role Overview:
A Deputy or Associate General Counsel is the second-in-command and typically manages specific areas of legal work or leads specialised teams within the department. They support the General Counsel in legal strategy and often step in to represent the GC in meetings or during periods of absence.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead and manage specific legal functions such as litigation, compliance, contracts, or intellectual property.
- Provide legal counsel to various business units.
- Draft, review and negotiate major contracts and agreements.
- Assist the General Counsel with broader legal strategy and risk management.
What to Look For:
- Subject matter expertise: Look for candidates with specialised knowledge in the areas they will be overseeing, such as litigation or intellectual property.
- Problem-solving skills: This role involves handling complex legal issues, so strong analytical and strategic thinking abilities are essential.
- Ability to collaborate: The Deputy GC works closely with other departments, so interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships are key.
Senior Legal Counsel
Role Overview:
The Senior Legal Counsel often handles specific legal issues and provides day-to-day legal support to various departments within the company. This role typically involves drafting and reviewing contracts, managing corporate governance issues and advising on regulatory matters.
Key Responsibilities:
- Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements, vendor contracts and other legal documents.
- Ensure corporate compliance with industry regulations.
- Advise business teams on legal risks and strategies.
- Provide legal support for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, or partnerships.
What to Look For:
- Technical legal skills: Companies should seek candidates with strong drafting and negotiation skills, particularly in contract law.
- Regulatory knowledge: Counsels must be familiar with laws and regulations which pertain to the company’s industry, such as data privacy laws, labour regulations or antitrust issues.
- Attention to detail: Precision in reviewing contracts and agreements is non-negotiable, as minor errors can lead to major risks.
- Cross-functional collaboration: Since senior legal counsels works with various departments, the ability to communicate complex legal concepts in plain language terms is essential.
Compliance Officer / Compliance Counsel
Role Overview:
A Compliance Officer or Compliance Counsel focuses on regulatory compliance, risk management and ethics. Compliance Officers are especially critical in highly regulated industries such as finance, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and manufacturing.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop, implement and monitor compliance programmes and policies.
- Conduct risk assessments and audits.
- Provide training and education to employees on compliance matters.
- Investigate and resolve compliance issues, reporting to regulators when necessary.
What to Look For:
- Industry-specific knowledge: Look for candidates with experience in compliance within the company’s industry vertical and a thorough understanding of applicable regulations.
- Ethics and integrity: Compliance professionals need to have a strong ethical foundation and the ability to proactively build a culture of compliance within the organisation.
- Attention to process: The role involves creating and managing policies and programmes, so strong organisational and procedural skills are essential.
- Communication and training skills: Compliance Officers often train employees and should be able to clearly convey complex regulations in an understandable way.
5. Litigation Counsel*
Role Overview:
Litigation Counsel manages disputes, lawsuits and regulatory investigations involving their employer. This role involves working closely with external counsel and overseeing litigation strategy to protect the company’s interests.
Key Responsibilities:
- Manage litigation matters, including employment disputes, intellectual property cases and commercial litigation.
- Develop legal strategies for defence or settlement in lawsuits.
- Oversee outside counsel handling litigation and ensure cost-effective management.
- Provide pre-litigation advice and guide risk mitigation strategies to avoid disputes.
What to Look For:
- Extensive litigation experience: Candidates should have hands-on experience managing various types of commercial litigation, and may also have broader experience with employment law cases to intellectual property disputes.
- Negotiation skills: Litigation Counsel must be skilled in negotiating settlements and managing complex disputes.
- Risk management: A proactive approach to risk mitigation and experience advising business units on avoiding litigation should be emphasised.
6. Intellectual Property (IP) Counsel*
Role Overview:
An Intellectual Property Counsel specialises in protecting the company’s IP assets, including trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. This role is especially important in technology, pharmaceutical and creative industries where innovation is a key business driver. Depending on the industry this role might also support or be supported by Patent Attorneys.
Key Responsibilities:
- Manage the company’s IP portfolio, including trademarks, and copyrights.
- Advise on IP strategies, including licensing, partnerships and infringement cases.
- Handle IP litigation and disputes.
- Conduct IP due diligence for M&A and other business transactions.
What to Look For:
- Specialised IP knowledge: Look for candidates with expertise in patent law, trademark registration, and IP enforcement, particularly in industries where IP is critical.
- Technical expertise: For tech and scientific companies, candidates with an understanding of engineering, biotechnology or other relevant technical fields will usually have an edge.
- Analytical skills: The role requires evaluating IP risks and opportunities, so strong analytical and strategic thinking abilities are essential.
7. Legal Operations Manager
Role Overview:
A Legal Operations Manager handles the business side of the legal department, optimising processes, managing budgets, and overseeing technology used within the team. They aim to improve efficiency and ensure the legal team operates as smoothly as possible.
Key Responsibilities:
- Manage the legal department’s budget, including tracking legal spending and managing vendor relationships.
- Implement and optimise legal technology systems, such as contract management software or e-discovery tools.
- Develop and refine workflows to improve efficiency within the legal department.
- Support reporting and analytics to track the performance of the legal team.
What to Look For:
- Process-driven mindset: Look for candidates with strong organisational and project management skills, who can create and streamline processes.
- Tech-savvy: Familiarity with legal technology and the ability to integrate new tools to improve efficiency is essential.
- Financial management: The role involves managing budgets and legal spend, so financial acumen is crucial.
- Cross-functional collaboration: The ability to work with finance, procurement and other business functions is key to successful legal operations.
Final thoughts
Building a robust in-house legal team requires a clear understanding of each distinct role and it’s clear from the descriptions above that leadership, teamworking skills and business acumen are just as important nowadays as legal expertise. By carefully selecting the right legal talent for each role, businesses can build a high-performing legal team that drives growth, while minimising risk.
*These are two examples of “specialist” in-house legal roles. Many other typical roles can include specialists within Employment, M&A, Property etc. and the prevalence of these will vary sector by sector.